Monthly Archives: June 2007

The boys have an obsession with Super Mario Bros. That’s right, I said it. An obsession. It has lead to many a meltdown because there aren’t any toys locally available that would help satisfy their need to have an action figure for everything they love. There was Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Spider-Man, Ben 10, Power Rangers, […]

A while back I wrote a post addressing an issue we’ve been having with our youngest son. It seemed like out of nowhere he began having daily meltdowns and violent tantrums and I began to question whether unschooling was the right thing for us. Well, this week I read a book called, “The Explosive Child” […]

Thanks for this post, Evie.I’m currently making my way between praising my children and letting them find their happiness in their own rites (and rights).It is a difficult struggle for me, finding a balance between “no praise” and expressing a genuine happiness for them.Maybe the difference is in the intention? What I mean is, if it’s genuine, it’s all right, but if you’re trying to encourage a repeat the ‘good’ behavior it’s manupulative?Not sure.Anyway. (mayhaps I need to get out Unconditinal Parenting again.)Thanks for the thoughts, and it was helpful to ponder this thing again from your own family’s situation and words.A still thinking Steph.

whimsigal -June 26, 2007 - 4:07 am

If I could give my children one skill it would be the ability to find happiness within themselves and not search for it in externa, sources. TO this day I still seek my parents approval and I’m close to 40. You’re so right about there being a fine line between praise and manipulation and we, too, are still trying to find out where it is.

Here are some pics that I promised I would share: This is the box to Iain and Ryan’s board game. Here is the board. Ryan did the left side and Iain the right. This is a sample of the pieces. We searched for images on the internet and then pasted them onto little wooden squares. […]